<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Seeing Isn't Believing by imaginary_golux</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22966219">Seeing Isn't Believing</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_golux/pseuds/imaginary_golux'>imaginary_golux</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Getting Together, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:33:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,171</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22966219</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_golux/pseuds/imaginary_golux</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Gimli ends up meeting the love of his life when Aragorn drags him into his motley group of friends...it just takes a while to realize it.</p><p>Beta by the love of <i>my</i> life, my Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aragorn | Estel/Arwen Undómiel, Frodo Baggins/Rose Cotton/Sam Gamgee, Gimli (Son of Glóin)/Legolas Greenleaf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>263</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>February Ficlet Challenge 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Seeing Isn't Believing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They only meet because of Aragorn. Forestry students and Geology students don’t generally have a lot to do with each other, but Aragorn, the madman, is triple majoring in Forestry, Political Science, and Music, and Gimli is double majoring in Geology and Political Science, and somewhere around the middle of their second PoliSci class together, Aragorn invites Gimli to hang out with the Fellowship. Because of course Aragorn’s friends have a name for their group.</p><p>There’s Fili and Kili and Merry and Pippin, who are all <em>supposedly</em> majoring in either PoliSci or Business, but actually spend all their time getting high and taking over dorm kitchens to cook ridiculous meals, and History grad student Ori who occasionally tries to ride herd on Fili and Kili but mostly ends up shaking his head and retreating to the library in dismay. There’s Frodo, their lone English major, who looks like a brooding poet and actually is, and his boyfriend Sam the very sensible Ag student, and Sam’s girlfriend Rosie who <em>looks</em> like she should be majoring in Home Ec but is, in fact, taking 400-level Business classes as a sophomore and probably going to be running a Fortune 500 company by the time she’s thirty. There’s Boromir, who is majoring in Business to take over her father’s company, and hasn’t yet figured out how to tell her father <em>either</em> that she’s trans <em>or</em> that she doesn’t want to run a company, she wants to run self-defense classes for women, and her brother Faramir, who <em>does</em> want to take over the company. Unfortunately, their father is an asshole, and won’t pay for a Business degree for <em>Faramir</em>, so Faramir is auditing all of Boromir’s classes and trying to stealth-double-major, which is probably going to blow up at some point.</p><p>And, of course, there’s Aragorn, who seems to know everyone on campus and is crazy enough to triple-major <em>and</em> run the broadsword fencing club, and talks a lot about his probably-mythical girlfriend who is apparently the most beautiful, intelligent, graceful, wise, all-around wonderful woman in the world.</p><p>And Legolas.</p><p>Gimli actually quite likes everyone in Aragorn’s motley Fellowship, Legolas aside. He <em>knows</em> Fili and Kili and Ori already; Fili and Kili are his cousins, and Ori’s been hanging around with them since they were all knee-high on a hobbit. And Gimli met Frodo in first semester, when Fili and Kili had dragged him along to see their Uncle Thorin, who’d come down for the day, and found him in a glaring match with Frodo’s Uncle Bilbo (actually some sort of cousin, but uncle is easier to say), with whom Thorin apparently has some sort of history. Frodo’d been off to one side rubbing his forehead in weary dismay, and Fili and Kili had taken one look at the scene, seized Frodo by both arms, and hurried him away. Gimli had hung around long enough to hear Thorin rumble, “Mister Baggins,” and Frodo’s uncle reply archly, “Oh, I’m not ‘my burglar’ anymore?” Upon which Gimli decided discretion was the better part of valor and followed Fili and Kili as fast as he could.</p><p>Anyway, Gimli really does like everyone else in the Fellowship. They’re good company. But Legolas...well, Legolas is an elf, and his father and Gimli’s father have a history of enmity, and anyway Forestry students on the archery team and Geology-PoliSci students on the axe performance team don’t have a lot in common. For Aragorn’s sake, they don’t give each other any trouble, but they keep their distance from each other, civil but not truly friends.</p><p>The moment that changes that is the day Aragorn insists they come meet his girlfriend, who is coming down for the weekend. He wants <em>everyone</em> to meet her, but in one of those perfect tunnel collapses of coincidences, everyone but Legolas and Gimli has something going on that they <em>really</em> can’t put off, so it’s just the two of them trailing after Aragorn as he heads for the train station, looking rather a lot like a puppy who knows he’s about to get a treat.</p><p>“Have you met his girlfriend before?” Legolas murmurs to Gimli.</p><p>“Thought she was made up,” Gimli admits. Legolas snorts.</p><p>“So did I,” he says. “I find it hard to imagine a woman who could truly match our fearless leader…” He trails off into astonished silence as a woman gets off the train and runs into Aragorn’s open arms. Gimli stares in equal shock. The woman is an elf, and is also the most beautiful woman Gimli has ever seen, dark-haired and dark-eyed and lovely as the night spangled with stars.</p><p>“That’s Arwen Evenstar,” Legolas says, sounding a bit strangled. “What. <em>How</em>.” Gimli has to agree with the level of befuddlement: even <em>he’s</em> heard of Arwen Evenstar, granddaughter of Lady Galadriel, daughter of Elrond Peredhel, said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Looking at her now, Gimli would believe it. How the <em>hell</em> did Aragorn even <em>meet</em> her, much less get her to agree to <em>date</em> him?</p><p>“Guys, this is Arwen,” Aragorn says, turning to lead her over to them. “Arwen, this is Legolas Thranduilion, and Gimli son of Gloin.”</p><p>Gimli bows over her offered hand in proper courtly style. “It is an endless honor to meet the woman who holds our friend’s heart,” he says. Arwen grins at him.</p><p>“And an equal honor to meet the friends he speaks of so fondly,” she replies. “Hail, Thranduilion, and well met.”</p><p>“Hail, daughter of Elrond,” Legolas says, with a little bow.</p><p>Aragorn beams and leads Arwen towards the campus, talking a mile a minute. Legolas and Gimli fall in behind them, giving each other little looks every few seconds as if to say, <em>Are you seeing this too?</em> and shrugging at each other in mutual bafflement. After a few minutes, when it becomes obvious that Aragorn has forgotten they even exist - understandably - Gimli gestures at a side path, and Legolas nods vigorously. They leave Aragorn and Arwen to make doe eyes at each other and beat a hasty retreat.</p><p>“That was very well-said,” Legolas says once they’re safely out of earshot.</p><p>“Thank you,” Gimli replies, grinning. “You kind of froze up, there, Thranduilion.”</p><p>“Yes, well, I wasn’t expecting <em>Arwen Evenstar</em>,” Legolas says, grimacing.</p><p>“Fair,” Gimli allows. “You realize no one’s going to believe us.”</p><p>“Oh <em>stars</em>,” Legolas groans, rubbing his forehead. “I’m not sure <em>I</em> believe us, and I was <em>there</em>.”</p><p>Gimli laughs. Alright, maybe the elf’s not as stuck up and annoying as he thought he’d be.</p><p>*</p><p>“<em>That’s</em> what got you talking to each other?” Frodo asks, covering his mouth to hide his laughter. “Really?”</p><p>Gimli shrugs good-naturedly. Legolas, who is napping on his shoulder, makes a disgruntled noise, and Gimli strokes his hair until he subsides again. “It worked,” Gimli says. “And none of you <em>did</em> believe us, either.”</p><p>“Yes, well,” says Frodo, gesturing at Aragorn and Arwen over on the couch. “I’m still not sure I believe it, and they’re right <em>there</em>.”</p><p>“You know,” Gimli grins, “that’s fair.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Written for the FFC prompt "High school/College AU."</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>